[This NPC may not be resurrected.]

Pinky stared at the hud message for several seconds before stepping away from the Fir'Dhassi woman. The normally cheerful cleric had tears running down her face. "Who do I tell this to?"

/Alliance: Jun Li: All members converge on Alpha team's location. Confirmed engagement of Valenzi.

[Whisper: Sajana to Jun Li] I can't rez Raine Xai or any of the fallen NPCs.

[Whisper: Jun Li to Sajana] We figured as much. The deaths in the last Realm Boss came with a three-day penalty.

[Whisper: Sajana to Jun Li] I know; I got that message when I tried to rez one of the players from the 12 Pillars. The NPC deaths here are permanent; Raine can't be rezzed.

Jun Li unsummoned her Bone Crow, her eyes straying toward the ongoing battle. "Not Raine... Why did it have to be her?"

/Inferno: Jun Li: Disengage Valenzi and return to camp. This means everyone.

/Inferno: Semmi: Huh?

/Inferno: Nix: We can finish this guy now, Junie!

/Inferno: Jun Li: I know it. Return at once.

Nix shared a glance with Pon before morphing into his Hotter form. "You heard her."

/Alpha: Pon: We can take him without the rest of Inferno.

/Alpha: Nix: It doesn't matter. Junie is the Raid Leader; I'm not going to undermine her authority.

/Alpha: Semmi: Agreed. Let's find out what is going on.

/Alpha: Wind: This sucks ass.

/Alpha: Fajii: We'll find him again.

Instead of summoning her mount like the other Alpha members, Fajii gripped the Hotter's soft fur and slid easily onto his back. "This okay?"

"Of course." The Hotter took off at an easy trot, its glowing eyes picking out their camp even through the winter storm.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the camp's perimeter, only to be stopped by a familiar figure.

Shae held up a hand, blocking their path until Fajii dismounted and Nix changed back to his human form. Unexpectedly, she gripped both of their hands. "I'm sorry, Nix..."

***************

"How long has it been?" Semmi glanced over her shoulder at the makeshift medical tent where Raine and her group had been taken. "Go check on him, Pon."

The old mage shook his head slightly. "No way." After the news was broken to the rest of the guild, he peeked into the tent to check on them. The sight of Fajii sobbing over Raine's corpse rattled him. Despite the battles Inferno had been fighting for the last year, it was the first time they lost someone. Nix was just sitting there, holding Raine's cold hand while staring at her pale face.

/Inferno: Semmi: What are we going to do?

/Inferno: Jun Li: The way I see it, most of the Rogues have been dealt with.

/Inferno: Semmi: So we push ahead? What about our friends? We could send our NPC friends back to Haven and finish off Valenzi ourselves.

/Inferno: Pon: We could also cut our losses. Abandon this quest temporarily while shoring up the 12 Pillar Alliance. Come back in a few months with no NPCs.

/Inferno: Wind: True. We've already cleared Colonial. That means that Glory can be repopulated. Gear ourselves up while putting together another raid.

/Inferno: Nix: No. We continue the raid and kill Valenzi. Listen up. All NPCs may return to Haven and wait for news of our victory. Whether or not you choose to finish this raid and continue to Everspire with us is entirely up to you.

Fajii exited the tent with Nix and Shae. Although she didn't feel like speaking, she tugged his arm until he stopped. "I'm going to stay."

Nix shook his head slightly. "I want you and Shae to return to Haven."

The redhead grabbed his free hand. "We will stay and fight it out. You gave us the option. Remember?"

"You two don't get a choice." Nix shook their hands loose and continued walking toward the center of camp.

/Alliance: Nix: Open a breach for the NPCs to return to Haven. I want our casualties transported to Haven immediately. Contact War Leader Mortimus and let him know about this development.

/Alliance: Breach Commander Mtui: Understood.

Nearly an hour later, the fallen dhassi were brought to Haven, and Inferno was ready to continue the hunt for Valenzi. Despite the adamant protests of Nix, both Fajii and Shae refused to leave the raid. Eventually, he was forced to comply with their demands.

[Whisper: Vooni to Nix] Moving Shae to my group. You don't have to worry. I won't let anything happen to her.

Nix nodded to himself, glancing at the Scorched Earth Aquarion walking beside him. "Stay close to me."

/Alpha: Rabi: Rabi has found Del!

/Alpha: Sasi: We found her! Quit trying to take the credit! Updating the hud map with their location.

Nix brought up his hud, immediately spotting the x'ed location. "Not too far from Izzin. They must have retreated before taking cover."

[Summons: Raven]

Nix mounted quickly, waiting until the rest of Alpha was ready to go. "The rest of our raid is searching for Valenzi. Our priority is Del."

Wind extended his arm palm-up toward Fajii. "The King's going to take good care of you." Demon King Lubo and stepped onto the Aquarion's hand when she reached out.

Fajii smiled slightly, her mood still somber. "I'll be sure to return him after we are done." The tiny gecko disappeared behind her collar, content to rest until he was needed once more.

Despite having near-zero visibility, Alpha team continued to gain altitude as they headed toward Del's location. Nix scanned the horizon with [Dragon Eyes], scowling when he spotting several red images circling in the distance.

/Alpha: Nix: Group of four rogues in the air near our destination.

/Alpha: Wind: So they can all fly?

/Alpha: Semmi: Unless this is the second wave.

/Alpha: Pon: Is Deadmeat with them?

Nix didn't answer right away, his eyes straining to make out the thermal shapes that were still four hundred meters away. He stood on the saddle, stepping forward to rest one hand on the Raven's neck.

/Alpha: Nix: Confirmed, he's there. Wrap up his sidekicks while I ground him.

Nix morphed into his salamander form while his mount instinctively closed on their target. Valenzi circled above three of his minions in what was obviously a search grid. Perhaps they sensed the hidden dhassi and opted to hunt them rather than face the powerful newcomers.

Nix leaped into the open space while his mount banked cleanly away. The Emerald Salamander free-falled silently several tens of meters before dozens of fire strands extended from his outstretched hands. The sudden flash of green light was all the warning the enemy had before both of Valenzi's wings were bound in flame strands.

A deafening screech of agony erupted from the rogue leader; the stench of burnt feathers and cooked flesh followed him down as he plummeted toward the ground below with Nix in tow.

Nix pulled himself closer to his prey, dropping the emerald flame strands and morphing into his human moments before landing. He pushed fury flames into his bone hilts and used his momentum to pin the rogue leader into the ground.

The pair impacted the ground, disappearing together into several meters of ice and snow that had been building up since the start of Deep Winter. Steam, snow, and chunks of ice plumed upward as if the tundra had suddenly sprouted a massive snow blossom.

Nix has slain Operative Valenzi.

A moment later, the Inferno Leader crawled out of the crater that Valenzi's death had caused, dodging to one side as three rogues dropped out of the sky at the same time.

/Alpha: Pon: You always show off... Can't you just kill the guy like normal?

/Alpha: Wind: Heh. Ignore him, boss. Go big or go home.

/Alpha: Semmi: No victory message. That means we aren't done.

All of Alpha turned and glared at the blonde officer, she took a half-step backward under their combined pressure. "What?"

/Alpha: Pon: Why you gotta say things like that?

/Alpha: Wind: Could have just been silent and waited to see what happened.

/Alpha: Nix: Don't worry, Sem. What's the worst that could happen?

Nix laughed when Alpha turned their gaze on him. Momentarily taking the pressure off Sem, his eyes turned north when a single point of light appeared in the sky. It extended upward and downward at the same time for several dozen meters before stopping.

/Alpha: Nix: Ten credits says it's a door.

/Alpha: Pon: Portal to a gladiator arena.

/Alpha: Semmi: Hidden treasure.

The long pillar of light extended sideways until it formed a massive rectangular shape before solidifying into a solid metal door. With a rumbling noise that shook all of Oasis, the door opened slowly.

/Alpha: Nix: Shit... Why couldn't it be a treasure?

/Alpha: Pon: The fuck are we going to do to that?

The clanking sound of metal echoed through the air as a fully armored behemoth stepped through the door. Complete with a full-face visor, seven meters of black heavy armor marched forward, his enormous boots leaving deep prints on the ice and snow. In one hand he held a round shield that covered most of his torso. His right hand held a morning star with a spiked ball that hung from two meters of thick chain.

/Alpha: Nix: Get back in the air.

Nix morphed into his Phoenix shape and closed quickly. Estimating the striking distance of the knight, he banked away from the target with a feint that was meant to test his quarry. The visored head turned toward him but ignored the fake attack.

Seeing that he was ignored, the Phoenix climbed suddenly and reversed direction in what could have only been called a loop.

[Predatory Scream][Flame Arrows]

Combination Successful.

An Ancient Phoenix has strengthened your resolve. The ATK (attack) rating for all the members of the raid has been increased by two hundred.

Thirty flame arrows impacted the steel breastplate, bouncing off harmlessly in a cascade of sparks that lit up the night sky.

Nix has landed a strike for (No Damage) on Dark Knight Trumane.

The Dark Knight raised his shield, making a deep gravely sound that passed for his version of a laugh. He swung his weapon at the fleeing Phoenix but missed by several meters.

[Dread Flame: Hex]

Pon has landed a strike for (No Damage) on Dark Knight Trumane.

The Dark Knight responded by blocking the strike with his shield.

Inferno: Semmi: We've killed Valenzi but he wasn't the final boss. Come to our location. Bring Morti; this guy is big.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Understood. Fall back into our original formation. We'll combine Pathfinder and the Sand Killers to make an additional group, callsign Echo. I want both healers in that group to join the healer group.

Within a few minutes, Inferno set up a perimeter around the Dark Knight. Morti stood on his hind legs directly in front of the Dark Knight. The distance between them was only about twenty meters.

/Inferno: Jun Li: All tanks besides Morti fall back to the healer group. I want them shielded at all times.

Nix watched as Sharl and Banz joined Vooni in front of the healers. Still in human form, he moved with the rest of Alpha toward the shield side of their target.

/Alpha: Pon: This bitch is stout. Even Dread Flame didn't scratch him.

/Alpha: Nix: Switch elements if you can.

Nix equipped his bone hilts and pushed lightning into them. The crackle of electricity caused the huge visored head to turn toward him.